I am still learning what a treasure Ian was.

I wrote about Ian here

I am continuing with violin lessons, Vicki is gone, thankfully. I had had enough of leaving every week in tears and I had done that for almost a year. She left to go to California and we- by luck got Gregg. He's an improvement.
But Ian was a treasure. Ian understood that when a student walked into class they were trusting him with their dream to play. And he understood that dreams need foundations. He made it his business to help the student lay those foundations.
I knew literally nothing about music when I walked into Ian's class- he taught me so much. I still have the notes he gave me from when he was kid studying. He knew I needed to learn what was on them. Step one on the journey of music was learning to read those notes.
He taught me that and then taught me a simple song, that I still play. He went over and over the simple things - things that must have been monumentally boring for him - but he never got frustrated or made nasty comments. I never saw a student leave his class in tears...frustrated yes, in tears from that frustration, or from being humiliated by Ian, never. Not the type of teacher he was.
Ian taught music, he taught people to love music, and to love the fiddle in specific that's a rarity. He made people believe that they COULD do music..no matter how little they knew when they arrived at his door. He valued people first, and that made a difference.
I hope to study with him again, it's a dream of mine. Next time I see him, tho I just want to say "thanks". For being the kind of teacher he was and the type of man he is.